Conventionally, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a stop control apparatus for an internal combustion engine mounted in a vehicle that can execute a regenerative power generation by driving a generator using its kinetic energy during deceleration. The conventional control apparatus controls the operation of a valve operating mechanism in such a way that intake valves and exhaust valves are closed during the execution of the regenerative power generation. Moreover, when the internal combustion engine is stopped ceaselessly from a state in which such a regenerative power generation is being executed, the operation of the valve operating mechanism is controlled so that the internal combustion engine stops after a compression pressure of the internal combustion engine is opened by opening the intake valves and the exhaust valves. According to such conventional control, it is possible to prevent push-back action of a piston by the compression pressure in the cylinder from being generated in the process of stopping the internal combustion engine, and thereby to reduce the vibration when stopping the internal combustion engine.
Including the above-mentioned document, the applicant is aware of the following documents as a related art of the present invention.